COMPUTER-AIDED LITERACY DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

QUALITY DEVLOPMENT, INC. (QDI) PLANS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH WITH THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF INVESTIGATING THE POTENTIAL BENEFIT TO LOW-SKILL WORKFORCES OF APPLYING COMPUTER-AIDED LITERACY SYSTEMS IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT. SPECIFICALLY, THEGOAL WILL BE TO UTILIZE TECHNOLOGY IN THE WORKPLACE TO REACHINDIVIDUALS WHO ARE LIKELY CANDIDATES TO RECEIVE WELFARE BENEFITS IN THE FUTURE, IMPROVE THEIR LITERACY SKILLS, AND THEREBY REDUCE THEIR DEPENDENCE ON WELFARE PROGRAMS. THE METHODOLOGY TO ACCOMPLISH THE RESEARCH CONSISTS OF A SIX-STEP PROCESS. FIRST, DEMOGRAPHICS WILL BE GATHERED ON THE BUILDING SERVICE INDUSTRY TO PROFILE THE COMPOSITION ANDEDUCATION LEVELS OF THE WORKFORCE. SECOND, A SAMPLE POPULATION WILL BE TESTED TO DETERMINE SPECIFIC LITERACY SKILL LEVELS. THIRD, GOALS AND MEASURES FOR THE SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED. FOURTH, LITERACY DEVELOPMENT TOOLS WILL BE SURVEYED FOR APPLICABILITY. FIFTH, QUALITY MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES WILL BE TAILORED FOR APPLICATION TO THE TARGET INDUSTRY. FINALLY, A PILOT PROJECT WILL BE LAUNCHED AT A VOLUNTEER CONTRACTOR SITE FOR FEASIBILITY TESTING. QDI EXPECTS TO ACCOMPLISH THE FIRST FIVE STEPS OF THE METHODOLOGY DURING PHASE I. PHASE II WILL BUILD ON THE PHASE I RESEARCH AND WILL CONSIST OF FULL-SCALE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM.